Megan Sorensen

'I have recently graduated, having completed the 3 year BA course in Natural Sciences. Before Cambridge I studied at a series of state schools and realised that I wanted to pursue Biology at university. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Cambridge, it has been rewarding academically and I also really enjoyed myself. The Natural Science course has inspired me to pursue my interest in Plant Sciences further, and so currently I am about to do a series of Lab placements before hopefully starting my PhD next year.'

Why St John’s?

'Choosing a college can be a very bewildering decision. I have to admit that when I first visited St John’s the large grounds and impressive buildings swayed my decision, but it is only after my three years there I fully realised what a good choice I had made. It is one of the largest colleges and so therefore provides a large year group to interact with, and also has great facilities. It has a large range of sport facilities that are either on-site or just across the road, a really useful library with 24hr access and plenty of music practise rooms. It also has lots of active societies that cover a wide range of interests that everyone can benefit from: the Jazz society hosts Jazz nights, the Johns Picturehouse society shows weekly film showings and the May Ball committee works incredibly hard to create one of the most talked about May Balls. I became a member of the Johns’ Photography Society and enjoyed sharing my interests with other members of the college.

The college is a fantastic place to live; you never quite get used to calling its historical buildings ‘home’. The accommodation is really exceptional and is mostly on-site and therefore very central. I never expected to live at the top of an old spiral staircase!

The college offers a lot of student support, particularly through the tutors who are always willing to help and the Director of Studies who look after you academically. Whether or not you use them a lot it is always nice to know they’re there.'

Why Natural Sciences?

'Natural Science is a fantastic way of keeping your options open and helps you to discover your personal interest. It allows you to study a range of subjects for two years, and only requires specialisation in the final year. The course provides everyone with a broad base that means students come out with a solid grounding in science as well as high level specialist knowledge. I knew I wanted to study Biology and so in my first year I studied Biology of Cells, Evolution and Behaviour, Physiology of Organisms and Mathematical Biology. It is also possible to combine modules from across the Biology, Chemistry and Physics. In my second year I studied Plants and Microbial Sciences, Animal Biology and Cell and Developmental biology. In my final year I choose Plant Sciences. It was a subject that I knew very little about when I started university but the Natural Science course exposes you to many aspects of science that otherwise you wouldn’t know about.

The college provides excellent support for Natural Science student, supplementing the teaching at the university. St John’s is a large college, which means it has many supervisors with specialist knowledge. This means that most supervisions can be done within the college.'